Catch 'em if You Can

Plot

Bart gives a lecture on the bus about water balloons, then hits Lisa with one. She retaliates, and they brawl all the way home. Marge breaks it up after Maggie accidentally lands in a box of cat litter, announcing the family is heading to Ohio for Uncle Tyrone’s birthday. Bart and Lisa are upset because Tyrone spent last year complaining about why he’s still alive.

Homer and Marge give in and let the kids stay home, but Marge demands one family activity first. They rent a romantic movie, but Bart and Lisa sabotage every tender moment, ruining any chance for Homer and Marge to enjoy it. The parents then look forward to their trip without the children, who keep wrecking their intimacy.

At the airport, they spot a queue of people in Hawaiian shirts and skimpy tops heading to Miami. This reminds them of their terrible honeymoon, which took place at a beach billboard in a rundown part of Springfield. On impulse, they skip Tyrone and board the Miami flight for a second honeymoon. Because the flight is overbooked, they get upgraded to first class, which delights them.

Back home, Bart, Lisa, and Grampa see a news report that the hotel in Dayton where Homer and Marge were supposed to stay has been destroyed by a tornado. Then Marge calls to say they’re fine. Suspicious, Bart uses last-call return to trace the incoming number and learns their parents are in Miami. He and Lisa convince Grampa to drive them there.

Homer and Marge spot the kids waiting outside their hotel room door and flee. Bart and Lisa launch a hot pursuit, complete with an instrumental musical montage and an animated sequence. They fund the chase using Ned Flanders’ credit card (borrowed by Homer) and Rod Flanders’ credit card (borrowed by Bart). Meanwhile, in Miami, Grampa finds a friend in an old man named Raúl, who simply turns his hearing aid off.

Cultural references

The episode's title winks at the film "Catch Me If You Can," which also gets spoofed during a musical montage. When Bart and Lisa land in Miami, a snippet of the "Miami Vice" theme plays. Homer, flying first class, brags, "Look at me, I'm reading The Economist. Did you know Indonesia is at a crossroads?"

When Marge questions him, he insists, "It is!" Four days later, The Economist ran an article about Indonesia using the word "crossroads" and mentioned this Simpsons episode in its weekly commentaries; that issue was called "Indonesia's Gambit." Roughly seven months after that, the magazine's cover read "Indonesia at a Crossroads." Boxer Drederick Tatum tells Homer and Marge as they exit an elevator that he's fighting a White Rhino at the Tropicana, a real Atlantic City casino, with shows at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and Midnight.

Outside the Lackluster Video store—a parody of Blockbuster—a sign promises, "If it doesn't star Sandra Bullock, your rental is free!" Inside, Moe nervously enters the "ADULT FILMS" section, and Bart follows in excited anticipation, only to discover the private room shows arthouse movies by Merchant-Ivory, Truffaut, Unfunny Woody Allen, Henry Jaglom, Bergman, and Spike & Ang Lee. (Truffaut's "Stolen Kisses" appears both in the Spike & Ang Lee section and its correct spot.)

A Futurama poster hangs in the store. The record player two older men carry plays a re-recorded version of "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" by The Andrews Sisters on Capitol Records. The guests at Uncle Tyrone's birthday party are the same Simpsons relatives Homer gathered in the episode "Lisa the Simpson."

Reception

The episode pulled in a 3.4 rating and 9.28 million viewers, ranking as the 42nd most popular show for that week. Colin Jacobson from DVD Movie Guide described it as "a fairly okay show," singling out the scene where Grampa tries to charm older women. On the podcast Four Finger Discount, Guy Davis disliked the episode, while co-host Brendan Dando found some moments relatable as a parent, though he called the writing "absurd." Writer Ian Maxtone-Graham took home the Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Animation at the 57th ceremony for this episode.